PLASTICMIND

Helping orgs build better products more efficiently with design systems.

[theplasticmind]

Back in 2008, I started a short-lived video series called Plasticmind TV, focused on sharing design tips with developers. In one of the last episodes I released, I addressed the topic of accessibility — something that people were only starting to take seriously online. It was a really forward-thinking episode, and I was proud of it. As part of the episode, I performed a song I wrote about contrast. I’m not a great guitarist, but the song was catchy and fun. It praised the virtues of making important text accessible in your designs. But I was so self-conscious and insecure, I couldn’t watch the song without cringing. The whole exercise put me off of creating videos, and I gave up after 21 episodes. Instead of embracing my unconventional approach and leaning into a topic I believed in, I got embarrassed and just gave up. YouTube launched in ‘05 and had only started paying creators the year before I made these videos. Can you imagine if I’d kept going with Plasticmind TV? Has the topic of accessibility become less relevant? Has teaching developers about design become less relevant? What about the online video creator economy? Here's the point. Don’t give up on your good idea just because the sound of your own voice makes you uncomfortable. You may just be ahead of your time.

[pinterblog]

When you find something you love on Pinterest, sometimes you want to learn more so you can act on baking those cookies, streaming that movie, or buying that couch. That’s why we’re taking a first step toward making pins more useful. We’re also making it easier to pin no matter where you are.

[marissamayr]

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr! 

We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Tumblr has built an amazing place to follow the world’s creators. From art to architecture, fashion to food, Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs.  With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of thefastest-growing media networks in the world.  Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent onsite each month.  On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app, and those users do an average of 7 sessions per day.  Tumblr’s tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network.  The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20%.

In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love.  In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences.  The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.

As I’ve said before, companies are all about people.  Getting to know the Tumblr team has been really amazing.  I’ve long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of those who create them.  That’s why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met.  He’s also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I’ve worked with.  His respect for Tumblr’s community of creators is awesome, and I’m absolutely delighted to have him and his entire team join Yahoo!.   

Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design — and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day.

http://yahoo.tumblr.com/